Sometimes it "feels" as if God is not there...

we cannot base our faith on feelings, but on our knowledge of the character of God. Throughout the Bible's 66 books, the portrait of God remains consistent; He is Holy, Just, Merciful and Loving. There are times when we are tempted to believe otherwise, but if you know the Lord, you must remind yourself that for God to be anything else, is simply impossible. We super impose human short comings and frailties on a Majestic, eternal Lord who has been pure, Just and Holy for all of eternity.

When Abraham was asked by God to take his son Isaac to Mt. Moriah to offer him as a sacrifice, he most definitely had the right to question God's character. After waiting for years for God's promise of a child to come to pass, now God was asking that very same blessing to be offered up on an altar. And yet, if you read the story, Abraham gathered his son, firewood and a knife and set out on the journey just as God asked him to do.

Abraham had to get up early and saddle his donkey. He took two servants and his son with him. He had to chop and split the wood necessary for the burnt offering. It took three days for them to reach the mountain. When he saw the place that God had told him, Abraham told his servants to stay with the donkey while he and his son went to "worship". He told them that they (not he) would return to them afterwards.

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and gave it to Isaac to carry. He carried the flint and the knife. His son Isaac asked his father where the sheep was for the burnt offering...Abraham told him that "God would see to it that there was a sheep for the offering" and they continued walking up the mountain.

"They arrived at the place to which God had directed him, Abraham built an altar. He laid out the wood. Then he tired up Isaac and laid him on the wood. Abraham reached out and took the knife to kill his son." (Genesis 22:1-10 MSG)

But the story doesn't end as you might think...God intervened and provided a ram for the sacrifice. But as Abraham walked the fifty mile journey to Moriah, every mile was filled with anguished questions. He did not know the end of their story...God did. Abraham was really confused, but he still got up early in the morning and chopped wood for the altar. He had servants who chopped wood, but it seems that Abraham had to do something physical. With each throw of the axe, he must have inwardly screamed, "why God, why?" Yet, he obeyed.

Abraham had great faith in who God was. He believed three key things: 1. He believed that God could raise Isaac from the dead. (Genesis 22:5) 2. He believed God would provide the lamb (Genesis 22:7) 3. He believed in who God was, he trusted God enough to bow his will to God's will. (see the entire story in Genesis lol).

Even though Abraham didn't understand what God was doing, he bowed his intellect. Even though Abraham loved Isaac with a deep fatherly love, he bowed his affections. Even though Abraham wanted to scream "No God!", he bowed his will.

Isaac was not a little boy as some have portrayed him in this story...He was big enough to walk fifty miles to the mountain. He was big enough to carry the wood up the mountain...and yet he allowed his father to tie him up and lay him down.

Both Isaac and Abraham trusted their fathers...When we don't understand what God is doing, or where God has gone in a situation, what we must do is trust our good and perfect Father. God's character never changes, He will always be dependable, He will always provide the way for us.

Transferring our "Isaac" from our hands to God's hands is what we do when we come to the "Isaac altar". When all was said and done God was in every element of what Abraham went through. God did in the end provide the ram for the sacrifice.Abraham renamed the mountain of sacrifice " The Lord will Provide - Jehovah-Jireh.

The very same Lord will provide for each of us. As I continue to move forward in preparation for my trip to Malawi, God reminds me with this story, that he will provide for me. I am convinced that God's provision for Abraham (the ram in the thicket) was there when Abraham built the altar. I believe that the ram was there when he tied up his son and raised the knife...through it all God's provision was already there...a ram put into a deep sleep caught in the thicket. Upon Abraham's obedience to God, God woke the intended sacrifice for the altar. In the midst of your crisis, even though you cannot see it, Jehovah-Jireh is your personal God who will provide the ram for you.

As we step out in faith based on who God is, rather than what things"look like", God will always provide!

Thank you Jehovah-Jireh for every good thing. I choose to trust you and believe in your good character.